It was my second time seeing Hidden Charms, the new British sensation which took over Make Music Pasadena on Saturday afternoon. Last time I saw them I said they wouldn’t stay hidden for very long and here they were, killing it on the main stage in the middle of Colorado Boulevard.
They are four young guys, as cool as you can imagine, with a vague 70’s look and a lot of 60’s slices in their guitars. Not only they were tight, but they immediately owned the stage, sharing the singing and putting a lot of energy in their set. Their awesome vintage sound had enough of this 60’s surf-y-bluesy guitars, and frontman Vincent Davies was doing enough of that Chuck Berry walk, to make them instantaneously loveable.
Hidden charms had an authentic rocking charm, they also knew to give the right amount of moves and Davies (a dreamy name to be in a UK rockband, could he be related?) jumped in the crowd to find himself soon surrounded by girls. A great rockstar move if you want my opinion, but these guys know how to make clichés appear fresh again. They injected a few keys in their vintage rock, and brought some crisp new twists in a overdone genre with a slick rhythm section and piercing solo guitars.
These young guys with old souls have even managed to record with Shel Talmy who has worked with legendary bands like the Kinks and the Who, and last time I saw I wrote their songs sounded like the Kinks jamming with Jimi Hendrix, so I was actually close. But really, when you have the songs, the look, the youth, the attitude and the right producer, isn’t it tempting to call you the new British invasion?
